Payment cards such as credit or debit cards are ubiquitous. For decades, such cards have included a magnetic stripe on which the relevant account number is stored. To consummate a purchase transaction with such a card, the card is swiped through a magnetic stripe reader that is part of a point of sale terminal. The reader reads the account number from the magnetic stripe. The account number is then used to route a transaction authorization request that is initiated by the point of sale terminal.
In pursuit of still greater convenience and more rapid transactions at point of sale terminals, payment cards have more recently been developed that allow the account number to be automatically read from the card by radio frequency communication between the card and a so-called “proximity reader” or “contactless reader” which may be incorporated with the point of sale terminal. In such cards, often referred to as “proximity payment cards” or “contactless payment cards”, a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) Integrated Circuit (“IC,” often referred to as a “chip”) is embedded in the card body. A suitable antenna is also embedded in the card body and is connected to the RFID chip to allow the chip to receive and transmit data by RF communication via the antenna. In typical arrangements, the RFID chip is powered from an interrogation signal that is transmitted by the contactless reader and received by the card antenna.
MasterCard International Incorporated, the assignee hereof, has established a widely-used standard, known as “PayPass,” for interoperability of contactless payment cards and contactless readers. Note that PayPass is not the only standard that has been established for contactless payment operations. For example, American Express has established a contactless payment communications standard that is called “ExpressPay”, and Amex has issued contactless payment cards in its name that operate in accordance with the ExpressPay standard. Other contactless payment communication standards have also been established.
Despite the greater convenience offered by contactless payment card systems, some consumers who have not used them may be apprehensive about trying the systems. For example, a consumer might be nervous that he or she will hold or move the contactless card in the wrong way, resulting in an embarrassing inability to complete a transaction. Some consumers are so unsure of how the systems operate in practice they decide to completely forgo the use of contactless payment cards. Note that once a consumer uses his or her contactless payment card a few times, these concerns typically vanish and thereafter they freely and confidently use the card.
Thus, improved devices and methods associated with the introduction of contactless identification card system to consumers would be advantageous.